I resolved to do something about that problem by coming to the dance as a girl dressed as a man, an age-old plot device. "Reginald" Scott made his debut at the Beau Monde conference in Washington, D.C. in 2000. He had a delightful time at the dance, even if the stylish Naval gentlemen who graced us with their presence showed up his costume. More importantly, however, was that in creating and acting the part of Reginald, I learned a great deal about that plot device. This article describes what I learned for those who are interested in using that device. Note, however, that I'm assuming you want your heroine to pass as a young man in polite society. You might be able to get away with a little more if she merely ducks around the stable in the dark dressed as a common fellow.

Anatomically Correct

To start off with, your heroine had better be built for the part. Tiny curvy girls won't make very convincing men. They don't even make semi-convincing boys. I am tall (5 feet, 9 inches) and slender. A little more padding through my hips, waist, and shoulders would have been helpful. I had to use three sets of shoulder pads to give myself a manly appearance. Little to no padding in the chest is also helpful. (Dressing as Reginald was one of the few times when I considered being poorly endowed a blessing.) I've seen any number of plots in which the well-endowed heroine wraps her bosom flat with bandages of some sort. This wrapping is uncomfortable and destroys the idea of "tight-fitting" clothing. It's also a deuced nuisance to put on and take off.

While some ladies have more chest than some men, they generally don't have a particular piece of anatomy that gentlemen possess (thank God!). The tight-fitting pants of the Regency would suggest that at least some sort of bulge might be noticeable. I chose to have Reginald not be particularly well equipped in this area. However, it is possible to have your heroine stuff something down the front of her trousers for a more "manly" line. Just be sure that that something doesn't move too provocatively when she's dancing.

The issue of hair, at least, is not too difficult. It was not unknown, though a bit scandalous, for a girl to have short hair during the Regency. Certainly tousled waves ala Byron were in style for gentlemen. I've had my hair cut short for some time now. What I did to make my Audrey Hepburn bob look more manly was slick down some of the more obvious curls and push my bangs off my face. A little pomade goes a long way.

Weston Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Even if your heroine is a strapping lass with a small chest, it might not be all that easy to come by gentlemanly clothing, particularly in the Regency. She will have a difficult time waltzing into a men's tailor and asking to be measured. She also isn't likely to find pre-made outfits. Several plots have the heroine borrowing clothes from a friend or relative. From my experience, this wouldn't work either. I scoured tuxedo rental shops until I found one that featured a Victorian wedding coat. While this was not the formal double-breasted black coat I would have preferred for an evening (Reginald is no tulip), it was a nice charcoal gray and it did approximate the cutaway coat used during the Regency. The tux shop even measured me for it, so there was some minor tailoring involved. However, when it arrived, I found that it bagged through my shoulders and flared too widely across my hips. I looked, in effect, as if I were wearing my brother's clothing.

To counter this, I sewed in additional shoulder pads and tailored in the back waist. I'm not the world's best seamstress, but our colleagues in the Beau Monde are forgiving. Reginald was passable for a few dances at the soiree. A young lady in the Regency would have had to make significant changes in the coat to get it to fit properly as to withstand an evening at a ball or other social event. With three or more seams running down the back, this tailoring is going to take time and care. In other words, she isn't going to simply borrow a coat and dash off to the ball.

Besides the coat, there's the issue of footwear. One does not wear boots to a ball. It's unlikely that gentlemanly pumps will be available in the heroine's size. I was lucky that the current style allowed my black leather loafers to approximate Regency pumps. Some stories have the heroine stuffing paper into longer shoes. I didn't try this, but I would wonder about the comfort. She had better be limping at the end of the evening for this device to be plausible.

Where's that Blasted Valet?

Once your heroine has the clothing, there's the problem of getting her into them. The stockings, pants, shirt, and vest will probably be self-explanatory. The cravat is another story. I studied various period pictures of neck cloths as well as descriptions on how to tie them before coming to conference. Still, as my roommates will attest, Reginald had the devil's own time trying to get the thing to tie properly. He had only one cravat as well, meaning that each time he tried to tie it, the poor cloth grew more wrinkled and limp. Trying to insert a pin into the cravat isn't all that simple either. You have to poke through several layers of cloth that are snug to your neck, without puncturing your throat. If I had to do it over, I'd find a valet to help.

Poetry in Motion

Once your heroine is dressed, there is the issue of moving like a gentleman. A man takes up more space than a demure young lady. His arms hang looser, and his strides are longer. He tends to look people in the eye, so his chin is raised. He also tends to throw out his chest. However, if your heroine is having trouble concealing her bust line, she's going to have to find a balance between projecting a strong masculine image and showing her chest to disadvantage.

In addition, a man generally has a deeper voice than a woman. My voice is deeper than most women (I sing somewhere between an alto and a baritone), so I only had to drop it a bit to be convincing. Your soprano heroine will need to work at it. In addition, as women become tenser, they tend to raise the pitch of their voices. One way to lower the pitch is to sit down and bend over to touch your toes, so that your diaphragm is resting on your thighs. The voice that comes out in this position is your natural voice. A music teacher in the Regency would likely know of this trick and might have taught it to a young lady.

All this manly posturing, however, has a decided drawback. By the end of the three hours as Reginald, I was in pain. My lower back ached, my knees were tender, my neck was tired, and I was getting hoarse. Your heroine will likely have similar difficulties in adapting to life as a gentleman.

The Fairer Sex

All in all, I learned that being a young lady in any period has its benefits. I would much prefer to have a handsome gentleman flirt with me than to be the one to flirt with the ladies. I would rather feel the swirl of satin against my legs than to stride around in pumps or boots. However, it was gratifying to find that Reginald was such a hit during his brief Season. Dear Margaret Evans Porter even asked to have him on the cover of her next novel. It was such fun to tease the other members of the Beau Monde.